Will Robotic Baristas Be the New Normal?

Restaurants have integrated digital elements for several years now. Between interactive ordering kiosks or delivery service apps, the ordering and dining experience has become continually less personal.

The kitchen has always been technologically advanced, and now customers are getting a firsthand look. Futurist and LinkedIn Top Voice on Tech Cathy Hackl shared this video explaining how people at Cafe X in San Francisco, California can receive a robot-made cup of coffee today.

Customers can order their drinks on the Cafe X app on their smartphone or do so in-store on a digital touchscreen. According to Hackl, the robotic barista serves close to 300 cups of coffee each day and Cafe X has since expanded to several more locations across California. The coffee shop opened in January 2017.

You can see Hackl’s full commentary on the experience here.

For the latest hospitality news, head to our industry page! You can also follow us on Twitter @HospitalityMKSL. Be sure to join the conversation in our Market Leaders LinkedIn group here!

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

beauty
Building Beauty for Real Women: Why Brands Must Focus on Longevity, Not Hype
March 25, 2026

Walk into any beauty aisle—or scroll through your feed for five minutes—and it’s clear the industry is obsessed with what’s new. New formulas, new trends, new “rules.” But for many women, especially those who’ve been using makeup for decades, the question isn’t what’s new—it’s what actually works. And increasingly, the answer isn’t coming from the…

Read More
Physician
Fixing the Physician Experience: Why Advocacy Is Healthcare’s Next Frontier
March 25, 2026

Physician burnout has become a defining challenge in healthcare, with research showing that a substantial portion of clinicians—anywhere from roughly a quarter to over half—experience emotional exhaustion, driven more by systemic pressures like administrative burden and reduced autonomy than by individual resilience alone. As healthcare systems face growing staffing shortages and rising patient demand, the…

Read More
career
From Starting Over In A New Country To Reaching The C-Suite: A CFO’s Career Comeback
March 25, 2026

Global mobility is reshaping the modern workforce, with millions of professionals relocating each year in pursuit of opportunity, stability, or growth. Yet behind the headlines of talent migration lies a quieter, more difficult truth: restarting a career from scratch—even after years of success—is far more common than people expect. In fact, many skilled immigrants…

Read More
AI in school
How AI is Changing the Safeguarding Landscape
March 24, 2026

This episode of “Safeguarding in Focus,” hosted by Sam Eustace, features Lucie Welch, an expert in primary education and safeguarding from Services for Education. The discussion centers on how AI is transforming the safeguarding landscape in schools, exploring both the risks and opportunities presented by this rapidly evolving technology. Key takeaways: Schools must address…

Read More